WAPAKONETA — An 18-year-old St. Marys man faces up to 11 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 1 for the intoxicated crash that killed a Wapakoneta teen.
Garret Hale pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated vehicular homicide, a second-degree felony, tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony, and operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Hale remained in the Auglaize County jail Tuesday.
The charges stem from a Nov. 8 single-vehicle crash that killed Noah Weber, 16, of Buckland. A third teen, Dustyn Selhorst, 17, of St. Marys, was in the pickup truck driven by Hale and survived, said Sgt. John Westerfield of the Wapakoneta post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The crash happened at 1:23 p.m. when Hale was driving north on St. Marys River Road just south of Glynwood Road. Hale drove off the road and struck an abandoned foundation from some type of building. His pickup went airborne and overturned in a field, Westerfield said.
Weber was pronounced dead at the scene, Westerfield said.
No one in the pickup was wearing a seat belt, he said.
Authorities said the teens had been smoking marijuana that day and before the crash stopped by a store to get an aerosol can, which they were huffing to get high as they drove, Westerfield said.
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